The Effect of the Voting Rights Act on Enfranchisement: Evidence from North Carolina

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 713-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriane Fresh
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Voting Rights Act

Moving Forward or Backsliding: A Causal Inference Analysis of the Effects of the Shelby Decision in North Carolina

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 649-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Suzanne Gibson
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Voting Rights Act ◽  
Secondary Effects ◽  
Shelby County ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Democratic Vote ◽  
The Impact

The Voting Rights Act created a method of oversight called “preclearance,” which was designed to prevent changes in state and local voting laws that may negatively affect minority groups. Following the ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, however, preclearance is no longer enforced. This study assesses the impact of recently implemented local voting restrictions on turnout across various demographic and political subgroups in North Carolina. Unlike other states, preclearance in North Carolina was implemented at the county level. Two approaches to the regression discontinuity-design are used to estimate de facto minority disenfranchisement. This study finds that the removal of Section 5 preclearance negatively affected Democratic primary turnout, but did not affect Democratic vote share. Secondary effects resulting in the removal of Section 5 preclearance may be responsible for disproportionately lower levels of overall turnout in formerly covered counties in 2016. Ultimately, the data suggest minimal effects on minority turnout rates.

Maximization, Whatever the Cost: Race, Redistricting, and the Department of Justice. By Maurice T. Cunningham. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001. 192p. $62.50.

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-205
Author(s):  
Mark E. Rush
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Voting Rights ◽  
Supreme Court Decision ◽  
The United States ◽  
Just In Time ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Voting Rights Act ◽  
Department Of Justice ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Cost

With the Supreme Court decision in Easley v. Cromartie, the 1990s round of redistricting litigation came to an end just in time for the new decade's round to commence. Looking back upon the Court decisions from the 1990s as well as the extensive scholarly commentary on them, anyone new to the field of voting rights in the United States might wonder how the Voting Rights Act, which was a straightforward attempt to remedy indisputably unjust political practices, could have given rise to the I-85 district in North Carolina.

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